Upon arriving to the stage as fans cheered, the 39-year-old Edmonds
took the microphone from La Russa and told him he would play for free
in 2010 if the Cardinals would have him.

Edmonds
later recanted and said he would play for the minimum salary of
$400,000. But he did seem sincere about his desire to return to
baseball after not playing since the 2008 season, and the Cardinals
would seem to be a fit for him given their inexperience and youth on
the bench.

Edmonds said he was “challenging” La Russa to give him
a shot. Kiddingly, La Russa told fans he wished he would have skipped
Edmonds’ appearance on stage.

Between this and McGwire, I guess it’s prodigal son week in St. Louis. Who’s next? Joaquin Andujar?

If they haven’t already done so, it would be nice to see LaRussa and Ozzie Smith kiss and make up. Having the acolyte telling the god when he can and can’t come down off Olympus for a beer strikes me as a bit perverse.

The problem is that you would have one less spot on the roster for a young player or another pitcher, etc. etc. You can’t carry dead weight just to “try it out”. their must be some expectations that he could help the team.